I have a little female mallard who is showing signs of something being wrong. She is hanging back from all the other ducks and geese when she is normally right in the middle of it all. It looks like there is more rapid than normal breathing but not panting. This morning I noticed that her poop is watery and lighter than normal green [as in water with light green liquid mixed in]. I was able to pick her up and now have her in the house where I can watch her better.
In the last few days I have been taking my ducks and geese out of their yard and letting them roam, get fresh grass and just get away from the mud in their pen. I have stayed right with them as we have problems with predators here, day and night. There was a problem with some of the pekins getting into Lily of the Valley, but I cannot say for sure if Sheba was there as well. This was Sunday and none of the other ducks are showing symptoms. The only other thing that is different is I have a swimming pool pump set up to try and clean their duck pool. [10' x 8' approx. 1200 gals.] I did add a sigle 1" clorine tablet to the strainer on Friday and left it there for an hour while running the pump. I did not allow the ducks into the water while I was doing this and I did check the clorine levels when I was done. I was not showing a reading on a swimming pool test strip at all.
I know of nothing else that she could have gotten into. Is it possible she could have swallowed something she shouldn't have? Of course...she's a duck. The question is what do I do now? There are no Vets in the area that will touch poultry of any kind. I am new to ducks this year and even though I've read a bunch, it doesn't give me the hands on I really need. What have I done and what can I do about it?
In the last few days I have been taking my ducks and geese out of their yard and letting them roam, get fresh grass and just get away from the mud in their pen. I have stayed right with them as we have problems with predators here, day and night. There was a problem with some of the pekins getting into Lily of the Valley, but I cannot say for sure if Sheba was there as well. This was Sunday and none of the other ducks are showing symptoms. The only other thing that is different is I have a swimming pool pump set up to try and clean their duck pool. [10' x 8' approx. 1200 gals.] I did add a sigle 1" clorine tablet to the strainer on Friday and left it there for an hour while running the pump. I did not allow the ducks into the water while I was doing this and I did check the clorine levels when I was done. I was not showing a reading on a swimming pool test strip at all.
I know of nothing else that she could have gotten into. Is it possible she could have swallowed something she shouldn't have? Of course...she's a duck. The question is what do I do now? There are no Vets in the area that will touch poultry of any kind. I am new to ducks this year and even though I've read a bunch, it doesn't give me the hands on I really need. What have I done and what can I do about it?
